I have to admit I was really skeptical when I got a call out of the blue a couple of months back from Bruce Bjorkman, the Marketing Director at Traeger Grills and all around BBQ god. He’d checked out the UltimateFoodie Podcast and asked if I would be into reviewing a Traeger Grill – he asked for my address and a few days later one was on my doorstep. After my wife and I put it together (not too tough of an assembly job) I was anxious to get cooking. It’s been a love affair ever since. Bruce has become a friend and a favorite UltimateFoodie.com guest as well/
The Traeger Grill is a different kind of animal from my gas grill or from my charcoal grill in that it runs on compressed “pellets” made of different hardwoods. Instead of adding chips to get flavor, the pellets function as fuel and flavoring all at once and the smokey flavor you get from the Traeger is outstanding. Coolest of all is that you have your choice of a ton of different “flavors” of pellets including Hickory, Alder, Apple, Cherry, Maple, Onion, Garlic, Mesquite, Grape Vine and more. I have found myself mixing and matching chips like I would spices in a rub to get subtle flavoring combinations in my grilled food.
The Traeger is really set up for “Barbecuing” as opposed to “Grilling” it is all about indirect heat provided by a small auger-fed firebox with a blower – so no direct flames are ever all that close to your food. The Traeger Grill is essentially a convection over powered by natural wood and with the associated wood smoke flavors. This convection action also makes it possible to do some nice baking on the Traeger – I have used mine to make some dynamite hot sandwiches, baked potatoes and best of all PIZZA. Traeger actually partners with Papa Murphy’s Pizza and it is a winning combination for sure.
Traeger Pellet Grills are not something you can pick up at Walmart – they are not cheap – but are worth every penny. They are hand made in the USA by folks in Oregon here in the great North West with pride. If you are a serious outdoor cook, I highly recommend that you pick one up either directly from Traeger at http://www.traegergrills.com or through one of their local dealers. Tell them Wade from UltimateFoodie sent you and before long you will have a man-crush on your Traeger Grill too.
I’ll do some follow up posts with recipes and reviews of the food I have made on my Traeger in coming weeks.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Sadly your article contains a fallacy: Traegers are now made in China. The Barish Fund purchased Traeger last year and outsourced the manufacturing, in the process laying of dozens of hardworking Oregonians. Now the craftsmanship is shoddy and design is falling away from the original, quintessential innovation that Traeger once stood for. Hopefully you and other Traeger lovers will unite and attempt to bring Traeger back to America. Please send all comments to sarah@barishfund.com
Brian
Vancouver, WA
Brian doesn't know what he's talking about at all. Due to the US Government's imposition of a tariff on steel, which drove prices of domestic steel out of sight, Traeger had to make a tough decision-raise prices and become uncompetitive, or outsource and keep the prices at a reasonable level.
We polled our dealers and they told us to outsource, rather than raise our prices.
So far as the workmanship is concerned…I used an outsourced grill ALL SUMMER LONG and it performed as good or even better than anything produced in Oregon. The workmanship was as good or even better than stateside made grills.
What Brian does not realize is that LONG AGO, you had to attach the legs to the first Traeger grills manufactured in the 1990s.
The performance, flavor and quality of Traeger Grills remains the same-regardless of where they are manufactured.
Hey Brian – I am sorry that you are obviously dealing with some personal issues with Traeger – I am still a fan and the grill that I cook on all the time has been nothing but awesome for me. It still produces the best grilled food I have ever made and I am beyond happy with the construction compared to every other grill I have owned.
We welcome all comments here as long as people can keep things civil and of course we always welcome anyone to respond. I see Bruce from Traeger has been in and responded.
Gentlemen please let's dispense with assumptions about what I do and do not know, or whether or not I have personal issues with Traeger. Allow me to correct some of your ill thought out assumptions:
1. I have owned and used Traegers for years…started with an 060 and moved up to a Big Tex, and now added an Executive 125…All of these had excellent craftsmanship and design.
2. Wade, I have no “personal issue” with Traeger. I will continue to use my Traegers because they provide absolutely the best BBQ period.
3. I am related to a distributor so, Bruce, am very familiar with the recent policy changes and design changes. I am also intimately familiar with the margins, so your tariff position does not hold water. There were ways to remain profitable and keep the operation stateside, such as import raw steel and retain manufacturing, streamline the manufacturing process, etc. If you are at all familiar with polling, your results are only reflective of the question asked: “Would you rather we make grills in China or add $200 to the wholesale cost?” No brainer here.
4. Having assisted in assembly of the “new” models, I can say first hand that workmanship is variable and at times shoddy. We have had to bring units back to Traeger that came out of the box broken or blemished, had to redrill attachment holes, and have units repainted. Never had to do that with a stateside unit. Perhaps, Bruce, you have lucked out with your imported Traeger; congratulations.
5. Another incorrect assumption, Bruce, is that I am aware that you had to attach legs to early Traegers.
All of this is patently immaterial to my original post, BTW. I am not on the Traeger payroll, as you are, so my point was as a consumer and an American. This was a plea to return to the domestic production of an innovative product by examining process efficiencies that can offset increase in materiel costs, to some degree. Will profit margins decline from previous years, perhaps, but the quality and reputation of Traeger grills will continue to make it a profitable venture. The unfortunate reality is that to the Traeger informed there is an upheaval of dissatisfaction with the business decision of the Barish Fund to outsource, and with the general quality of the new products, not to mention the absence of grills and parts due to problems in the China plant (the corrections which reportedly won't be seen in the States for another 6 weeks).
Brian
come on guys no reason to argue fire up the charcoal and make it happen
Brian, I'm with you brother. I'm lucky to have a Traeger produced in the USA. Believe it or not, this was THE deciding factor for me when I chose my Lil Tex over a Big Green Egg back in 2007. The BGE was/is manufactured in Mexico.
Hey guys…
I'm sorry you are unhappy with Traeger's decision to produce parts out of country. However, let's not pretend they are alone here.
Do I wish they were 100% American made and assembled ? sure
Would I pay 2x more for my grill because of it ? I love the flavor – but not that much.
I'd like to move the discussion back to the food if we can. That is what the site is about.
I was all set to buy a Junior but now I'm all stops envisioning an instalation put together nightmare. I live in Portland, OR and was ready for some BBQing this summer. I'll do some more research from new Traeger buyers first now.
They aren't that hard to assemble. It took my wife and I about 45 minutes.
I purchased an 075 just a week ago with a 180 degree thermostat. it will not hold the temp at any setting. Can anyone help me. I called the factory and they give me one answer and i call the outlet store from whom i purchased it from and they give me another answer. neither one the same???????????????
Did you have any luck on this yet? If not, let me know. I know some folks there who have been great at answering my questions.
- Wade
I have an 075 also. You may want to be a little more specific about holding temperature. Is it running away with you? If so, then clean the pot. Temperatures are relative. The thermostat is measuring temperature where the sensor is installed. I have found the sensor reads somewhat cooler than the thermometer on the grill door. I also use an internal grill thermometer and have found that usually the temperature inside is hotter than either the electronic sensor or the installed thermometer.
…So first, if the temperature is running away clean out the pot. If your just seeing a little delta-temp between the electronic sensor and the installed thermometer relax and use the grill. Part of grilling is (as I'm sure you know) art and part is chemistry/physics.
…I didn't know about the China thing….I always look for Made in USA and I am willing to pay more for Made in the USA and sometimes do without if I can't find Made in the USA!!!
I work with many different companies who manufacture many different products both domestically and abroad. The dirty little secret among them is that the quality level of the the products being outsourced is often times difficult to compete with. This is not my opinion, I’m just telling you what all my clients are telling me. The basic overall design of the Traeger makes it a particularly easy product to outsource and have it produced exactly to the companies expectations. If there is a noticeable change in the way it’s fabricated it is my opinion that is was a cost cutting decision made by Traeger.
I have a Traeger Jr. I recently won in a radio contest. So far it has been an interesting experience. Everything I have cooked on it has been great, but trying to follow any recipes is nearly impossible. It seems that it is just not capable of reaching/maintaining the needed temperatures. I have found that smoke will reach about 100-125, medium about 200-230 and high about 300-330. This is not all bad, though. I cooked a pork shoulder on medium (avg. 210) for about 6 hours and it was excellent. The problem? I discovered the fire had gone out because a hole had opened up where the pellets feed from the hopper, leaving quite a few around the edge of the hopper. Luckily the meat was done!
What is our outside air temperature like ? If your outside temperatures are cold (45 or less, it can really impact the ability of your grill to hit the right temperature. Traeger actually has some suggestions on how you can insulate your grill to overcome this. Can do some creative things like user water heater insulating blankets on the outside of the gril area that can keep the heat inside. I’ve had my heat on high up to 550-600 before and seen the medium setting run in the 300 range.
I’d suggest you give support a call and let them know you are having trouble.
i just purchased a little tex love it. i noticed in you sales brochure you show cooking Pizza.
1. What to you cook them on?
2. where to you get one?
3. Recipies and which pellets?
Thanks, Ernie
Ernie, I’ve had great luck with Papa Murphy’s pizzas – if you ask at PM’s they even have a special pan they can give you, although the stock paper pan the pizza comes in works as well.
I’ve also made my own pizzas with fresh dough – brush it with olive oil and lay straight on the grate and cook for a few minutes, then flip and top, close the lid and continue to bake on high until cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.
The Traeger is essentially a convection oven that ads great smoky flavor
I’ve emailed Bruce from Traeger to come in and share some wisdom – stay tuned.
I am looking at getting a new Trager grill and I wondering if I should go for a Junior or Lil Tex? I really just cook for 2 plus a few parties throughout the year. Any advice with advantages and disadvantages would be great!
I’d go with the Lil Tex. With a rack (the Treager rack is an excellent product) it can handle 6 racks of baby backs, or 6 – 8 good sized burgers, or about 20 chicken drumsticks, 6 nice rib-eyes or a 12 – 15# turkey. The good news is it will also do an excellent job on 1 rack of ribs, 2 burgers, half a chicken or a turkey breast. A friend has a Big Tex and I think the Lil Tex has better temp control and unless you’re feeding an army it will hold plenty. I haven’t cooked on a Junior, but LOVE my Lil Tex and for a family of 4 with plenty of dinner guests its perfect.
Frank,
If I were you I’d consider either the Junior or the Lil Tex/Lil Tex Elite. My brother has a bigger grill and while it’s great for cooking mass quantities of food, for the average 3 person meal he says it is just way too big and uses more pellets/takes longer to get to temp. I have a Lil Tex and that is plenty big to throw 16 hamburgers on at a time or even smoke a whole turkey. I’ve never personally used the Junior but it looks a little small for serious entertaining. As far as the Elite, I know it’s alot more money but you do get a digital thermostat and dome thermometer, which can both be added to a standard Lil Tex (for a price of course). Good luck on your search and if you have any other questions feel free to email me at buzzerbaby@gmail.com .